Affair
by Mach2K
Summary: Zelda and Link have a more than platonic relationship, but will an impending engagement tear them apart? Harsh language, sexual themes.
1. Chapter 1

"We can't keep meeting like this."

"I agree, it's highly inappropriate."

"Good. We agree on that then. So… this will be the last time."

"Sure, sure."

"Don't give me that; it _will_ be the last time."

"Of course, whatever you say."

Zelda watched him for a few minutes, unsure if he was being sarcastic or not. Link rolled over onto his side, fetching his pipe and his small pouch of tobacco, the bedsheets never straying below his waist. As he packed it and lit the woodsy-smelling stuff, she nodded. "So we're in agreement then." She wished he'd stop smoking, but he never listened to her on the matter, as it was his house anyway. Zelda rubbed her face with her hands and grabbed a random item of clothing from the floor, pulling it on. Oh. It was Link's tunic. No matter, she was just going to wear it to start the kettle for tea.

"It has to be the last time!" she called from the kitchen, checking that the kettle was already full of water and stoking the embers, piling wood up. Sad that she knew the layout of his home better than her own.

Link wandered out, having finally bothered to pull on his pants, the pipe sticking out of the corner of his mouth. As much as she hated smoking, it suited his face well. "Yes, yes, I've already said it's fine." He used his bare, calloused hands to rearrange the logs on the fire. "You know you can't stack these too high, the ash won't get any oxygen an' your fire's done-" He turned and looked at her, standing there holding a mug and a ball of tea leaves, trying to look stern and regal. The effect would have worked better if she was in her own clothing. "You're wearing my shirt," he muttered. No wonder he couldn't find it.

Zelda shrugged her shoulders. "It's just for a few minutes. I don't want to bother with putting on my corset just yet."

Link nodded once. He hated her corset anyway; not only was it difficult to remove, but it was too tight all over, and left red welts on her skin. "Is this because you're finally engaged?" he asked, stabbing the wood with a poker a little too hard.

"What?"

"That…" he gestured with one hand, "you're making all these grand statements about how you're through with your ridiculous obsession with me." Zelda stared, dumbstruck, shaking her head. "I did not say anything like that-

"Yes you did, last night," he replied, straightening from the fire and folding his arms. "You were doing that thing you do after, where you roll away and start planning how to straighten your life out, that you'll quit after this, and that was your grand proclamation to the stars and the goddesses and all of creation." He gritted his teeth hard around the end of his pipe, his eyes narrowed. He'd been angry about the statement since last night.

Zelda looked away, and a cord in her throat twitched under an angry bruise. Link remembered the way his teeth sank in, how she cried out and raked her nails down his back. In fact, he was pretty sure there were a few minute pinpricks of dried blood on his side of the sheets. Great. She'd better leave soon, so he could handle himself alone. "Look…"

A shrill whistle, and Link distracted himself with getting the kettle off the fire, taking the tea ball from Zelda and throwing it into the water with anger. He gripped the edge of the counter and squeezed as tight as he could, staring out the window at the early morning sky. He was not about to beg for her to keep seeing him. IF she got pregnant by him before the marriage, he would be killed for violating her virtue, no matter if Zelda consented. And if she got pregnant after, the child would belong entirely to the kingdom, and Link would never be allowed to see it.

Zelda licked her lips and tossed her hair back out of her face. "Bertrand is good for Hyrule."

"I'm better," he countered, not knowing he was going to say it. "I've done more for this country than some pampered prince living off his father's accomplishments."

"You don't want to be king," Zelda retorted, shaking her head. "It would kill you far faster than anything else."

"At least I'd die at your side in a proper way." He poured them both tea, adding plenty of sugar for Zelda, the way she liked it. She took a sip to keep from saying anything else. "Does he know that you like your tea sweet?" Link asked quietly, leaning against the counter as he drank his own. "That your eyes are blue grey, not just blue, that ye've got a scar on your knee from walking on stilts as a child?"

"Stop it."

"That you cry at night, knowing you have to marry him?"

"Stop it."

"That you're fucking a peasant boy with nothin' to his name but a title no one but us know?"

"STOP! IT!" Zelda screamed, slamming her mug down. "I did not come here for a lecture on how I am a terrible person, Link!"

"No, you just came to get off and run away again! Pretending to be a good girl so your daddy doesn't die of shame, sayin' that you're staying with Ruto on those nights you ride out of the castle, as she just had her wedding and she had so many tasteful ideas you want to borrow! An' good thing that Ruto lies for you too! Wait, how is she alive to lie for you? Oh! I know! I saved her! You asked me to save Hyrule, and I did, and the thanks I get is a quick fuck and to watch the woman I love marry some pompous ass in the name of kingdom preservation!" He took a deep breath. Zelda walked hurriedly into his room while he brooded and sipped his tea, and when she reemerged, she was mostly dressed.

"Well. I… guess from now on, you'll get a pin instead," she replied. It wasn't a very good retort, but it was all she had. Zelda walked to the door, carrying her things under one arm and holding her head high. Link took several long-legged, quick steps over, slamming the door as soon as she opened it, putting his other hand on her shoulder and pulling her back against his chest. Zelda tugged against his grip half-heartedly.

"Stay," he whispered in her ear, roughly, the voice she liked because it was husky and full of a growl, a lust.

Zelda closed her eyes. "It was our last time, remember? I'm off to do right by my… future husband and my dying father."

Link wrapped both his arms around her, holding her close, his cheek against her temple. Zelda stayed in his arms, rocking gently with him. "One last time," he murmured against her hair.

Zelda shook her head. "We say that every time."

Link chuckled.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: While the story is marked complete, I felt the urge to write a little bit further in this particular vein. I just can't write a oneshot to save my life, I guess :)

Zelda kissed Bertrand lightly on the mouth, and smiled, turning and waving her hand to the audience that stood to applaud them. They ran out of the church, their hands held tight, Zelda gripping her bouquet close. Bertrand climbed into the waiting carriage, pulling her up after and kissing her again. He was a good man; a little silly in the ways of the world, sure, but he was good looking, with dark eyes and curly hair. Zelda waved out the windows of the carriage as they rolled away from the cathedral and up to the castle for the celebrations. People waved and applauded, and for a split second she thought she saw a blond man in green clapping solemnly, far behind the other revelers, and staring into her face.

She pulled away from the window with a frown. She had not talked to Link in a few months. It was easier to resist him when she was holed up in the castle, planning her wedding. And he had not come to see her. Bertrand patted her hand, still smiling, and turned his face again to the revelers waving.

They arrived at the castle to a great deal of fanfare and cheers, women hugging Zelda tight and praising her gown, the flowers, her hair. Ambassadors and other nobles clapped Bertrand on the back, applauding him for a great catch. They took their place at the head of the table, where servants quickly served them some food from the elaborate buffet, and plenty of wine. Zelda looked around now and again, trying to be surreptitious about it. She didn't look very long, but from what she could see, Link was nowhere around. She sipped her wine, and tried to be happy, ignoring the gnawing sadness in her gut. She'd hoped he'd come, if only to see how happy her life would be now. Bertrand would treat her right, and they would rule together.

For most of the party, they watched a band play, the hired dancers celebrating the wedding throughout the room. Zelda smiled and applauded politely at the end of each performance. She could do this; she could be happy for a little while. Bertrand was a good man, and he would treat her well, and Hyrule would thrive under their hand. Zelda took another sip of wine, accepting when Bertrand asked her to their first husband-and-wife dance. He moved well, holding her appropriately. Maybe that was the problem; that Bertrand had little passion in him. He was polite and reserved to a fault, and when Zelda had first met him, that had surprised her. But it was boring, now; he'd never tried to sneak in on her in the bath, had never pushed her up against a wall, pinning her by the wrists and kissing her forcefully.

As if those actions would be appropriate until they were married! She wondered now if he would reveal the man behind the title. They danced, ate a little, drank a little, danced, drank a little, danced, talked, drank a little more. A fire was roaring in the pit, and their chairs were closest. Zelda stood, excusing herself on wobbly feet to get some cool air. Bertrand kissed her lightly on the cheek, having stood with her, and she smiled as she unevenly wandered to the balcony, sitting down on the bench out there. It was cold now that the sun had set. She closed her eyes and sighed, and a sense of melancholy washed over her.

Neither of them had quite been able to believe it when she cut it off for good. As usual, they laid in bed. Link had one arm around Zelda's shoulders, holding her to his chest. She traced a thin scar on his ribs with one nail, watching his chest move up and down with his breath. It was peaceful. "Link."

"Mm."

"I'm getting married in three months."

He stiffened, as he always did when she brought up the subject of her impending wedding. Not in the way she liked, but crouching like a suspicious animal. Zelda pulled reluctantly away from him, and pulled on her clothes, managing to lace up her corset on her own. Link watched her, sitting up in bed. She pulled on her light riding cloak and looked back at him. They stared at each other wordlessly for several minutes, before Zelda finally turned away and walked out. And that was it.

Remembering this now, her hands clasped in her lap, she stared down at her rings and shook her head. Her eyes started to tear up. She started crying, honestly crying, the tears smearing her delicate makeup as she brushed them away with her fingers. Someone settled down on the bench next to her and wordlessly handed her a cloth. "Oh, th… thank you…" she looked up at her companion, and nodded wordlessly, a lump in her throat getting heavier.

Link nodded back and looked away. He hadn't shaved in about three months, and a sparse reddish beard was growing in. There were bags under his eyes- or was that just a funny shadow in the moonlight? They sat there in wordless silence as Zelda dried her tears, handing his kerchief back. "Congratulations," he muttered dryly, his fists pressing into his knees. Zelda looked away. They remained sitting there in dead silence for several minutes until Bertrand came looking.

"Sweetheart? There you-oh, hello." Link stood and bowed to the new king. Zelda smiled and rushed over to him. "You've been crying?" Bertrand asked her softly, touching her chin with his thumb.

Zelda shook her head. "I just heard a very sad story. Bertrand, this is an old friend of mine, Link."

Bertrand looked Link over; a beggar? Really? But he smiled kindly and shook Link's hand. "Good to meet you, sir."

"Good to meet you, my lord," Link replied.

Bertrand gestured inside. "The band is playing again. Would you like to dance?"

Link cleared his throat. "Actually, sir, if you wouldn't mind, could I dance with her?" Zelda closed her eyes tight; she could appreciate the strain it put on Link to act so deferential to this man. If he didn't, Bertrand would take offense and have him thrown in the cellar.

Bertrand chuckled and nodded. "Certainly, certainly. Just don't go running off with her."

Link took Zelda's hand and walked back in with her, leading in a slow dance. He didn't know the proper steps, but he'd never taken kindly to correction. He held her close, and Zelda inhaled his tobacco smell, the undertones of fresh hay and trees. Link squeezed her hand once, gently. He couldn't speak.

Zelda closed her eyes and thought back to the first time they made love, only a month or so before she met Bertrand. Link hadn't known he was going to bed the future queen; they'd just been talking, sitting in his kitchen, sipping at tea.

"Urgh, it needs more sugar," Zelda had muttered.

Link apologized. "I didn't know how you liked it."

She looked around again. "This place is very nice." Zelda added another heaping spoon of sugar to her tea, stirring and sipping. Better.

Link had finished his, and he stared into the mug with a worried expression. Zelda set down her cup and tilted her head. "Are you alright?"

He shrugged. "I'm fine."

Zelda drank the last of her tea, having to brush by Link to rinse out her cup. She shook the water from her hands, tensing when she felt a wolf's gaze on the back of her neck. She glanced out of the corner of her eye and realized Link was staring her down. "Wh… what?" she asked softly. He turned and pulled her close with a hand on her cheek, kissing her very deliberately on the mouth. Zelda broke it off with her eyes wide, stepping back. "Maybe I should go..." she mumbled. Link stepped towards her, his eyes alight with intent. Zelda watched him, unsure if she was afraid of him or excited.

She turned to run, and he caught up, wheeling her around and pushing her up against the wall, his hands pinning her wrists as he kissed her again. He pressed his body up against hers, and Zelda could feel how much he wanted her. Link pulled away, letting go of her wrists and cupping her face in his hands, kissing her again. He took his time, stroking her face and hair as he kissed her over and over again. Finally, he broke away, smiling a little bit. Zelda grabbed him forcefully by the shirt and pulled him back in, kissing him hard. Link groaned in surprise, gripping her by the waist and pulling her in. She reached her hand up his shirt, stroking the smooth skin of his back. Link unlaced the back of her dress, clumsily, unfamiliar with the knots and ties in place. She turned around to help him, and he undid them much quicker, pushing the material off her shoulders and swearing when he encountered the laces of her corset. "You're like a Noelmas present," he grumbled, untying the restrictive item in the back as Zelda unhooked it in the front.

"Should I be flattered by that?" she asked softly in response. Her heart quickened in her chest; _what was she doing_. Link's hands moved away from her skin, and when he came back, he pressed the whole of himself, bare, against her body. She moaned as he bit her ear, a little painfully, and his hands reached around to cup her breasts. Zelda braced herself against the wall with her arms, Link touching her body, biting the back of her neck possessively—

Bertrand gently took Zelda's hand again at the end of the dance. Link thanked them both, congratulated them again, and headed back to the balcony with a glass of wine. Bertrand smiled at Zelda, stroking her cheek and kissing her forehead. "You're very beautiful," he said softly, kissing her mouth. She smiled and thanked him, stroking his hair. But it felt so_ fake_, her smiles and affection for him. He kissed her again, stroking her hair. Oh. It must be time for her to perform her wifely duties.

They laid together on the bed afterward. Bertrand had been good, but gentle. And boring. She pretended to get her orgasm, and let him cuddle up to her. "Let's hope for some children, hm?" He smiled and put a hand to her belly. Zelda nodded, waiting until he closed his eyes for sleep and glaring up at the ceiling. Honestly. Children? Had he enjoyed it at all? She gripped the bedsheets tight under her hand, finally rolling over and glaring at the wall.


	3. Chapter 3

Link watched Zelda leave. He waited ten or so minutes, and climbed out of bed, pulling on his pants and checking out the window. Just her, riding away. They'd been over this a dozen times before though. He put some water on to heat.

By the third day of her absence, he realized she'd been saying goodbye.

So he went to the wedding.

Zelda never saw him crouched in the back of the church, dressed in his best. He studied Bertrand and frowned. Weakling. Link could kill him with one hand. But the worst part was that Zelda was smiling at him. From the distance, Link couldn't tell if it was her false smile.

He left the church before the kiss.

When Bertrand led Zelda away at the reception, he went to the balcony and brooded, leaning on the railing and glaring out at the moonlit ground. So that was it. She was truly over him. He drained his glass of wine and smashed it on the balcony ground, grabbing a shard of glass and squeezing until he felt it cut into his hand, and blood dripped off one point. He felt numb. He hadn't been sleeping. He was so used to a warm body sharing his bed that he tossed and turned without one. Link went to take his kerchief out, to wrap his palm in it. He stopped when he saw the dark little spots from Zelda's makeup and tears. A bride that cries on her wedding day? She couldn't be happy. He tucked the kerchief back in his pocket and dropped the glass shard, squeezing his hand tight to stem the bleeding.

In silence, he climbed down the castle wall, dropping off into some bushes and strolling casually away from the building. He whistled for his horse and climbed up, prodding her into a canter to escape the castle and Zelda's new life. He drifted back to when she first said those three little words to him.

Zelda'd been coming regularly to visit for a few months. She sort of rolled her eyes at the engagement and getting married, claiming that these things always took forever and by the end, neither the groom nor the bride were pure. Link supposed she was just trying to rebel against the idea of being a bargaining chip for a bigger kingdom, even as she pulled off her clothes and straddled his waist.

Sometimes they would eat a simple meal before, or sit and talk a bit about the castle marketplace. But most nights when she would come, she was a torrent of desire and indignance, leaving scratches on his back and bite marks on his neck. He held her by the hips and kissed her breasts, catching a nipple with his teeth and biting. Zelda liked it rough at first, as she always came in angry about something. Link was convinced she spent the entire time riding to his place working herself into a frenzy.

After a marathon session of clawing and biting each other, fighting through their pleasure, they would lay together on the bed and doze. It was this peaceful break in their passion that Link enjoyed the most. His tightly wired muscles relaxed, and Zelda no longer looked angry at her life, that she couldn't marry Link instead. It was during one of these breaks that she walked out on him. It was also during one of these breaks that she told him how she felt.

Zelda looked up at him with soft, sleepy eyes and a little smile. "You're amazing," she murmured softly, touching his face.

Link shaved just for her, liking the contact of her skin on his. "I'm just a farm boy," he replied quietly, moving closer and putting his arm around her side. He kissed her fingers, the palm of her hand.

Zelda smiled, watching him do this. "I love you," she said softly, moving her hand from his mouth to his hair.

Link looked at her, raising an eyebrow, smiling crookedly. He climbed over top of her, leaning down and getting right in her face. "Oh yeah?" he asked quietly, as Zelda shifted her hips and wrapped her legs up around his waist.

She nodded, cupping his face in her hands. "Always."

Link took her slowly, stretching out their pleasure to a fine point, groaning as she tightened around him, kissing the bruises he'd made on her breasts and throat. He slowly moved them both into different positions, trying to maneuver her so that she was in control, to worship her with all of himself. She came on top, riding him, his mouth at the spot where her heart pounded, smooth and steady. Link jerked once, twice, and shuddered as he came for her, his eyes shining with adoration. "Do you know how beautiful you are?" he asked against the curve of her neck. Zelda just laughed.

Now, Link stared at the bed where he held her. He let her go so easily. What a fool he was. He swallowed his bitterness and packed a small bag with a few items for survival, closing it up tight and locking up his house. He climbed up onto his horse. He couldn't stay with all the memories that pricked at his skin like needles. He couldn't even use the cup she always used for tea. So many memories, good and bad, packed tight into a little house. He was sick of them. They only made his heart hang heavy, and incited him into an anger so quiet and stealthy that he didn't know himself until he'd broken a chair or a window.

So it would be best to leave for a while, and maybe he would find someone else. In his heart, he doubted he'd find anyone; Zelda had bewitched him with her ways. He took a deep breath of the air, but it didn't hold a promise of a fresh wind for him; just the stale, cold sort where you wanted to stay inside instead. But everywhere he looked, Zelda haunted him with her eyes, her voice, and he couldn't stay in a house packed so full of her presence when she wasn't even there. It was killing him.


	4. Chapter 4

"_The one you love and the one who loves you are never, ever the same person."_

-"Invisible Monsters", Chuck Palahniuk

"Have I done something to offend you?"

Zelda gently set down her fork and knife, looking at her husband. She'd been about to take a bite of her meal, lost in her thoughts. "No…" she replied quietly, tilting her head. Bertrand had barely touched his own food. They'd been married for a few months by this point.

He folded his hands in his lap and looked at his wife with worried sincerity. "My lady, we've—no. I feel there is a distance between us. You are always tied to your thoughts." Indeed, over the past few months, he found that living with Zelda in the castle had become similar to living on his own, or with a doll. Her eyes were cloudy with a reverie while eating, in her study with a book, or lying awake at night. And they had not coupled since their wedding night. And she rarely engaged him in talk unless a problem arose that she could not figure out on her own. She was surprisingly intelligent, and Bertrand felt intimidated by her.

Zelda looked down at her plate, chewing her lower lip. "I'm sorry, dear husband. I've just… been waiting for a child." She smiled wanly. _Faker_, the soft, masculine voice always in her head replied.

Bertrand laughed uneasily. "Well, a second time could be a charm, couldn't it?" Zelda nodded reluctantly. Bertrand went back to eating his dinner, as did the queen. But she could not help but linger over her personal thoughts, retreating inside herself yet again.

"Rupee for your thoughts?"

Zelda was lying on her back, Link's cheek pressed against her chest. He was listening to her heartbeat, his skin slick with sweat. She curled her fingers through his hair, stroking down his spine. But now she looked at him, half-lifting her head. "Hm?"

Link shifted so that he could actually look up at her, scooting up and kissing her neck. "Are you off communin' with the goddesses or somethin'?"

She shook her head and smiled. "I'm just thinking of how nice this is." Link nodded, kissing Zelda's inner arm where she embraced his shoulders.

"I'll keep you," he whispered to her skin.

Zelda laughed, shaking her head. "I'm the royalty here, shouldn't it be the other way around?"

Link shrugged, a devilish grin in his eyes as he moved his lips from her arms to her stomach. "True… I guess," he mumbled as he kissed a path down to her navel and beyond. Zelda shuddered, closing her eyes with pleasure.

When she opened them again, she was still laying in bed. Bertrand half-heartedly cuddled up to her afterwards, nuzzling her shoulder. "Bertrand?" she asked the air softly. From him, she got a grunt of affirmation. Zelda took a deep breath, biting her lower lip. "Do you remember the young man you met at our wedding?"

Bertrand woke up a little more, and he looked at her in confusion. "Which… there were many."

"I was on the balcony, and he was out there with me. I came in crying because of a sad story."

Bertrand straightened, waking up more with each second. Something cold settled in his stomach. "Yes?"

Zelda looked over at him. _Tell him,_ her conscience hissed. "Do you want to hear the story?"

Bertrand touched her cheek with tenderness. "Only if you don't cry."

Zelda looked away again. "I can't promise that."

He shrugged and sat up, hugging her close. "Go on, then."

Zelda could already feel the tears welling up in her eyes. "There once was a girl, who met a young boy through a set of mysterious circumstances. As she got older, she fell in love with him, sneaking away from her home every night to see him. But… class differences meant that they could never be together. She was engaged to another man-" she glanced at Bertrand, who looked as if he was piecing it together faster than she wanted, "and while she appreciated him, she could not love him the way that she loved this young man-" her tears were falling now, and she wiped them away herself, "and she kept seeing the young man every night, for months, fighting with him in the hopes that he would hate her and tell her to leave—

She choked out a sob. Bertrand kept a comforting hand on her shoulder, but leaned back and tried to get a good look at her. "You… were seeing another man?" Zelda nodded, unable to speak from crying. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Bertrand asked quietly. Zelda shook her head, curling up with her head on her knees. "Is that why you're so distant? Why you won't lie with me?" Zelda nodded. Bertrand pulled away and looked away, covering his mouth with his hand. "Oh." They sat like that in silence as Zelda tried to calm herself down, shuddering. "So why did you marry me?" he asked.

Zelda wiped at her tears again, sniffling. "Because it's what was good for Hyrule." She looked at Bertrand. "Have you ever loved anyone so much that you thought your heart would break?"

Bertrand nodded, touching her cheek. "It was you."

Zelda gasped in horror and burst into fresh tears. Bertrand climbed out of their bed, putting on a robe and walking out of the room, leaving her to cry alone.


	5. Chapter 5

Link sighed and stretched out, wrapped in her arms. Finally, he was able to get a good sleep again.

"What are you thinking?" she asked softly, stroking his hair.

Link blinked one eye open and looked up at her, shrugging. "Nothin', right now."

"Oh come on, what are you thinking about?" Malon shifted away from him and stretched out under the bedsheets, rolling away from him and onto her side to face him, propping her head up with one arm.

Link rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. "I'm thinkin' I should go home an' get some clean clothes." Malon snorted and flopped onto her back, folding her arms. A silence settled in the creaky farmhouse. Link rubbed his stubbly jaw with one hand, and finally sat up to leave the bed. Oh sure, he'd finally been able to sleep, Malon's warm figure against his back. But it did nothing to the stony ache he felt, the pain he'd bore since Zelda walked away with her husband. He splashed cold water on his face from a large, shallow dish for that purpose, and went to pull on his clothes, discarded on the floor.

Malon sat up, watching him. "Link, are you really going?"

He paused, his tunic half-on. "Well, yeah."

She sighed and stood up, wrapping the bedsheets around her form and walking over to him, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I can't convince you to stay?"

Link sighed and kissed her forehead affectionately. "Sorry, but no. I've gotta wander."

Malon nodded, folding her arms across her bust. "Okay." She smiled and gave his shoulder a half-hearted punch. "Come back soon, don't leave me waiting." Link nodded and gave her a quick half-smile before he turned and left.

-

Zelda peeked into the study. Bertrand was reading a heavy, leather-bound book. He looked up when she came in and sighed, looking away again and staring down at the carefully-written letters. Zelda paced over to him, wrapped in her night clothes and a robe, and sat down in one of the other chairs near him. "Bertrand." He looked at her, his dark eyes wary of what little secret she would have this time. "I'm… no apology I can ever make will suffice to make it up to what I have done to the sanctity of our marriage."

He sighed and slammed the book shut on his lap. "True."

Zelda looked down at her hands. "But, I want this to work, for us, and for the country. I wouldn't mind if you found other women to be intimate with when you needed it—

She stopped when she realized he was glaring at her. "What?"

Bertrand set the heavy book down on a nearby coffee table with a thud. "Zelda. I married you for two reasons. One of them was because I believed in a strong marriage for Hyrule and Cortiz. The other reason was because I did, and do, think you are a beautiful woman, and you're intelligent, and I could help you make this country great. If you think, for a minute, that to imply my only interest was getting off with a princess, you insult me, and our marriage as a whole." He stared at her, and Zelda looked at her hands.

They remained gridlocked in a silence for several minutes, until Zelda finally reached out one hand for Bertrand's. He studied it for a few minutes before reluctantly taking it. "When was the last time you and he…"

Zelda thought. "Six months ago."

Bertrand nodded. "And you have not seen him since the wedding?"

"No."

"You understand I will have a hard time trusting you now?"

"Yes."

He sighed. "He took your virtue."

Zelda tensed. "It was mine to give."

"What if he had impregnated you?" Bertrand gripped her hand tight.

She shook her head. "We were careful."

"That wasn't what I asked," he replied with a snap to his voice.

Zelda shook her head. She'd only worried about that when her period was a little later than expected, but it had always come. "If he had…" She didn't have a satisfactory answer, and instead, she looked away. "I don't know."

Bertrand sighed and let go of her hand. He stood up, as did Zelda, and he kissed her forehead lightly. "I will see you for dinner tonight?" Zelda nodded. He tried to smile, but it was a fleeting thing, and Bertrand look leave of the room.

-

Zelda lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling of Link's house. He lay next to her, his breathing heavy, his eyes opened wide. He turned and looked at her, and Zelda looked back. It dawned on her that they had done something very wrong, a fact she cared nothing for when he undressed her and bit her neck, but now it was hanging over her head. Link smiled and reached for her hand, squeezing it. "You look worried," he asked quietly.

Zelda nodded. "I am."

Link sat up, surprised. "Why?"

Zelda sat up too, a hand to her chest. "I shouldn't have let you… Link, I could get in serious trouble for such a thing!" She swore and struggled, kicking against the bedsheets.

Link reached out and grabbed her shoulder. "Zelda, calm down. Whatever trouble you get into, I'll face it with you, the way we always have." He pulled her against his side and squeezed. Zelda closed her eyes, grateful for his warmth, both physically and emotionally. "If you didn't want this, you wouldn't have let me get very far." Zelda shook her head, embarrassed that he was right. "And I would've stopped, no matter when you asked me," he added, kissing her ear.

Zelda shivered and looked at him. "But when I get engaged… we can't partake in this sort of activity."

Link nodded. "Absolutely. When you find a… proper king, we'll stop." He leaned forward and kissed her again, on the mouth this time. Zelda wrapped her arms around him and kissed him in response, falling into it eagerly.

Of course, they hadn't stopped. Zelda went back the next day, and the next, surprising him at first with her frequent visits. And each time, no matter what they _planned_ to do ("Let's go for a ride on the horses," "What of a picnic?" "That is a grand idea!") they inevitably fell into Link's bed together, pawing at each other's clothes with a fervor. She was addicted to the salty taste of his skin, the tickle his hair made on her skin when they kissed. She bit at his collarbone, Link gasping and crying out in surprise.

"A rough one, eh?" he asked quietly, pushing her down and holding her hostage with one hand.

"What, can't handle it?" she retorted, her eyes blazing with lust.

Link laughed a quick, short burst, pinning her against the bed and biting the end of her ear sharply. "I'll show you what I can handle," he growled savagely.

-

Link sat in his tiny kitchen once more, watching the sun rise as he drank a bittersweet tea out of Zelda's old cup.


	6. Chapter 6

Zelda tried, Goddesses know that she did. She coupled with Bertrand often, inciting him into passion with a gentle bite on his ear, or a frisky wink. But the more she seduced him with these meaningless little gestures, the less honest she felt. When they were together, she dug her nails in and made all the little noises of pleasure that she felt sufficed, but it made little difference. When he was hunched over her, groaning and thrusting, she let her eyes close and remembered the way Link moved over her, rougher, faster, more into the act. He became an animal when they were in bed, fierce and savage, biting at her skin, but having to do so below her neck, so that her father wouldn't see a mark and grow suspicious.

"Run away with me."

"What?" Zelda looked over at Link in surprise.

He looked dead serious though, his hands behind his head. "Come away with me, Zelda. We'll go somewhere else for a little while, build a little home. I'll teach you how to farm." He chuckled a bit at the last part.

Zelda shook her head. "Link, you know I can't do that. I have to stay, for my country." He sighed, his grin fading, and rolled away. Zelda looked over his back, at the scratches she left, red and raw. "If I could leave with you, I would in a heartbeat," she murmured, rolling and cuddling up against his back, lightly kissing one of the red welts. "But I need to stay."

He rolled back over to face her, and pulled her close so that their skin rubbed together in all the right places. "You're going to forget me some day, when you're so busy with pregnancy an' running the country," he muttered. Great, Link was having one of his moods.

Zelda pulled him closer, against her breasts. "I'll never be able to forget you. You're amazing. You're my hero."

Link scooted up, resting his head on the pillow next to her face. He gently thumbed a red mark on her shoulder from his own teeth, smirking briefly when he saw it. "We just love to claw each other up, don't we?"

Zelda looked at the mark as best she could, and then back at him. "Yes, I guess so."

He pulled her close, kissing her neck lightly, exhaling a deep breath. "You're beautiful."

Zelda stroked Bertrand's hair. "Thank you." She kissed him gently. But she just couldn't connect with him, neither physically nor mentally. For now, she held him, closing her eyes and trying not to dwell on her loss, the only thing she really wanted.

"Tell me something about yourself that no one else knows."

Link kissed her shoulder, his arms wrapped around her waist and holding her hostage in his lap as they stared out the window at the dawning sky. "That I'm happy," he muttered in her ear.

Zelda shook her head. "Come on. Something real, a secret."

Link raised his eyebrows and nodded, thinking it over. "Hm… When I was younger, living with the Kokiri, I never felt like I was one of them. I was closest to Saria, to be sure, but even then I had… a detachment from them. I sort've always knew that I wasn't one of them, even before I was told I was a Hylian. But I played along, even when I felt alone, because I thought it was normal."

Zelda turned her head to look back at him. "Have you felt connected to anyone now?"

He chuckled and nudged her with his shoulder. "Well yeah, I mean, there's you, for the obvious answer." She nodded, satisfied with this, and turned her head back towards the window, burrowing deeper in the blanket they'd dragged to the chair from the bedroom. "What about you?"

"Me?"

"Yeah. What sort of great secrets does the Princess Zelda hold from her champion?" He kissed the nape of her neck, where her hair ended, and she shivered, but she knew the answer in a heartbeat.

"I don't want to marry Bertrand. I'd much rather my father find someone else to rule Hyrule after him, instead of me. Especially now."

Link held her tight, giving her a squeeze.

"It's not that he isn't cordial or kind. I just… he isn't a very interesting person to me." She put one of her hands over Link's. He sighed and rested his cheek in the curve of her neck.

"Breakfast?" Bertrand asked her in the morning, the sun catching in his hair and turning it a deep auburn, as opposed to the usual dark brown. Zelda looked at it. She could appreciate that it was beautiful but she just. Didn't. Care.

"I… actually, there's something I have to do today," she replied in a low voice. Her stomach rolled.

Bertrand looked up at her with a worried frown. "What would that be?"

Zelda sat up. Eight months since she'd seen him, two months she'd been more willing to couple with Bertrand, and it hadn't changed a damn thing inside of her. "Something I've been wanting to do for ages," she whispered back in a choked tone.

Bertrand sat up and grabbed her arm. "Zelda, don't do this. Please, you promised you wouldn't."

Zelda looked back at him, tears in her eyes. "You said you loved me. If you do, would you just let me go do this one thing? My heart is breaking without him, Bertrand! I'm sorry I can't love you like I love him. Please, just let me go."

Bertrand stared at her, sighing. "Alright." He let go of her arm and turned away.

Zelda watched him for a minute longer, hesitating, before she ran and pulled on her bedroom robe, her heart pounding in her throat. Bertrand did not look at her again, even as she slipped out of the bedroom and put on her riding shoes, dashing out to the stables and through the morning fog. Her horse was surprised at how early she was slipping out to the stables, especially as Zelda had not bothered with her in so long. She climbed on without bothering with the saddle or reins, as her horse knew the path to Link's.

And they raced; thundering over the ground, Zelda eager, hoping with all her heart that he was there, curled up in bed with his pipe, waiting patiently for her return.

The ride was longer than it had ever been because of her impatience. Her poor horse was foamy when they finally arrived at the little cottage. Zelda slipped off her back and ran to the door, pushing it open. "Link!" she cried, stopping and looking around. No sign of him in the kitchen; the coals were heaped in the hearth. He heart was pounding again, but for a different reason. Was he gone? Had she missed him? She crept through the house, to his bedroom, and peered in. No one. Zelda shook her head. He'd left, as easily as she came here. Well of course he wasn't going to wait around after seeing her at her wedding. What would be the point? She rubbed her arms with her hands and shook her head, staring down at the floor. "Fool," she muttered, closing her eyes so the tears wouldn't fall. Something creaked behind her, and she whipped around to face the door.

Link stood there, one foot in, two smallish rabbits held in one hand by the ears. He looked at Zelda unknowingly for a few minutes. It'd been so long since her presence was in the house that he convinced himself she was a ghost, a hallucination. They stared at each other across the room for several minutes, Link cautiously stepping up and into the house, quickly going to the counter near the sink and getting a knife and chopping block, starting to skin the rabbits. Great; she was still haunting him.

Zelda walked over cautiously, reaching out and putting one hand on Link's. "Hey," she whispered.

He stopped and looked at her again, closer this time. "You're really here?" he asked with disbelief.

Shyly, Zelda nodded. "At least, I believe I am."

He stopped skinning his dinner and turned, pulling her close by her waist and kissing her once, gently, on the lips. Zelda sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing into his body. She was aching for him, desperate for his attentions. Link forced her away, holding her out at arm's length. "What about your king?" he asked in a low voice.

Zelda shook her head. "He let me go, to be here with you."

Link stepped back, leaning against the counter. "Zelda, it wouldn't be right." She stared helplessly. "You shouldn't be here," he muttered, looking at his boots.

Zelda threw her hands up in the air, and stomped one foot on the floor. "Link!" He looked up at her with a frown. "We do not _care_ about what is right by the law! We care about what is right in our hearts! And what is right for us is that we be with you when we can!"

Link stared. She'd rarely ever used the royal 'We', unless in a passion or a righteous anger. He pushed himself away from the counter, brushing by her. "If you hadn't come back, this wouldn't be as hard as it is," he muttered angrily, pacing. "I am trying to do the right thing and let you go!"

Zelda tried to stop his frantic pacing. "Link, I love you. I cannot stay away while I feel this way for you. I tried, for months I tried, and it was the worst hell I had ever experienced."

He looked at her, ceasing in his brisk path. "Zelda." It was too easy to return to her, the familiarity of her mouth and the softness of her skin under his hands. He held her by the shoulders, kissing her deeply and moving his mouth downwards to bite at her collarbone, hard enough to leave a mark. Zelda shivered and gripped his arms, digging her nails into his skin.


	7. Chapter 7

Link wondered how he could have ever compared Malon to Zelda in the physical act. Not that it wasn't fun and he didn't get off, but that Zelda… fit better, to be crude. And she was more active in their lovemaking, returning his bites and digging her nails into his back. She'd been the main cause of his injuries for months, not fighting savage monsters. Malon would curl around him and sigh, but she was so gentle and quiet, leaving tiny suck-marks on his neck and collar, not bruised welts from passionate love bites, that he felt like a monster for wanting to take it rougher.

He let the chain of his thoughts go as Zelda climbed back into bed, rubbing her cold feet on his bare legs and nuzzling under his chin. She sighed and wrapped her arms around his chest, listening to his pounding heart and closing her eyes. He swallowed and left a light, feathery touch down the center of her back that made her shiver. "Again," she whispered quietly.

Link laughed once. "Darlin', I'm so sore I don't think that I can _walk_."

Zelda kissed his neck, smiling. "Fair enough." She closed her eyes and listened to the secret workings of his body, taking his hand and threading their fingers together.

Link took up her hands and looked at them, sighing. His face went from one of contentment to one unreadable.

Zelda looked down at her wedding rings. "Should I take them off?"

"No." Link lowered her hands and pulled her close again, hugging her. She embraced him tightly, running her fingers up the smooth lines of his back.

"This feels right," she whispered to his ear, closing her eyes.

She had a point. He held her tight, kissing her shoulder and throat. How did he ever think that he could replace the feeling she stirred in him? "Will you be able to come back?" he asked.

Zelda sighed. "If I deliver an heir to the throne, I hope so." She pulled back from him, rubbing his scruffy chin. "Hmph. Makes you look older."

He nodded once. "I take it you dislike that."

"Not necessarily."

Link pulled her close again, rolling onto his back. Zelda straddled his hips, able to feel the twitching of his shaft against her body. "I thought you were too tired?" she asked with a smile, cocking her head to one side.

Link chuckled, his hands up on her hips, his eyes admiring her body. "Sure I am, that's why you'll do the work." Zelda shook her head and ran her hands up and down his chest, learning the texture of his muscles again, her eyes closed. Link groaned when Zelda lifted her body, sliding back down on top of him with a bit of wiggling to get him to fit in just right.

He sighed and let his head fall back as Zelda arched her body, rolling her hips back and forth on top of him. She moved with vigor, her breath quick and her hair bouncing. Link gripped her arms and pulled her down, kissing her as she continued to rock her body. Zelda closed her eyes and let her passion take over in her movements, panting as she moved. Link held onto her and scooted back so that he was sitting up against the pillows, wrapping his arms around her waist and watching her, his mouth open and his eyes narrowed with lust.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered. Zelda smiled, her breath in soft gasps as she rocked on him, eager to find orgasm with him. Link sat up further and moved his hands up to her sides, then up again to her breasts, holding them and cupping them, lightly touching a bruise forming on one nipple. She shivered and ran her fingers through his hair, leaning down and kissing his lips, testing her tongue against his mouth until he opened it for her. Her rhythm slowed as they took their time with kissing each other. Link moved his fingers up past her breasts and into her hair, stroking it back out of her face. When they broke away again, he looked at her with a smile full of warmth. "I'm glad he let you return."

"As am I." She held still for a few minutes, taking one of his hands and holding it to her cheek. "I don't know that I can ever… walk away from you again. It was hard enough to walk away the first time, I still can't believe that I…" She squeezed his fingers with her own, sucking in a deep breath and holding it to control the surprising, unbidden tears.

"Zelda, don't walk away again, please." He straightened and grabbed her by the arms. She didn't think she'd ever seen Link look sad once. Instead of despair, he would look angry. And he did so now, with a fury and a determination. "Please. Stay with me. We'll run away together." Zelda sighed and loosened herself from his hands, rising up to slide back and off of him. Link frowned. "What?"

She licked her lips and looked for her clothes, managing to get on her underdress before Link grabbed her again and pulled her down with a fury so that she flopped on her back, glaring up at him. "You keep asking me to _stay_, and you know that it is improbable for that to ever happen! Quit asking!"

Link held her down by her shoulders, and he kissed her, biting at her lips. Zelda reached up and grabbed his hair, tugging sharply on it. "Do not do this now," she growled. "You are killing me, doing this to me. Don't you know that?"

"Don't you know that it's killing me? You are so close to me, every day. And to have you back now, in my arms, I would kill to keep you." Zelda stared, and for a minute, she almost opened her mouth to suggest—

But Bertrand had let her go in the first place. She could not betray him. "Someone has to stay, to rule Hyrule," she whispered. "I have to stay with him." Link sighed angrily and rested his forehead on her chest, his arms draped across her form.

"I love you," he growled into her form.

"I love you," she whispered back, resting her hand again in his hair and stroking it gently.


	8. Chapter 8

"I have to go," she whispered to his chin.

Link was silent for several minutes, stroking her shoulder with his knuckles. "I know," he murmured in reply.

Zelda was exhausted, but it was midday already, and she did not know how long Bertrand's mercy would hold out. Best she return home, wash up, and maybe lay with him later that evening. Her skin crawled at the thought. It felt like a betrayal to everything she and Link had together. She squeezed his hand tight, kissing his fingers. "I will return as soon as I am allowed to return."

Link frowned. "As soon as you are allowed to? But you are the queen."

"And I have a duty to my people to act as one, by being at the castle." She reluctantly pulled from his hands, gathering her clothes up. Link helped her dress, his rough fingertips grazing on her skin.

"Send me a letter," he whispered.

"Can you read?" She regretted it immediately, because Link's eyes snapped a quick fire with the insult.

"Of course I do. Why would I ask you to send a letter if I didn't?" He turned away, getting his pants and a shirt and dressing, his back to Zelda.

Zelda reached out to tell him that she wasn't trying to insult him, but she dropped her hand and sighed heavily, rustling from the bedroom and to the door. She didn't look back as she walked out, not knowing that Link watched her go.

"You're back quite soon," Bertrand said in surprise when Zelda walked into the castle.

Zelda looked back at him in equal shock. "Well, I supposed that…" She rubbed her arms with her hands, feeling lost and out of place. "I… sleep better here." Not totally wrong; she did not have Link lying with her, tempting her to spend every second of their togetherness in sex. She bowed her head to her husband and slipped off to bathe, alone.

She soaked in a full tub, a wide circle with a small fire underneath to heat the water. Her hair hung out of the water, silky and wet, having carefully combed it out. Zelda sighed, her sore body relaxing in the water. She closed her eyes, fully intending to nap in the tub. A gentle creak of the floorboards; she raised one eyebrow, but left her eyes closed. Another creak, and she honestly grew suspicious; but it was too late when Link was splashing into the bath, grinning devilishly at her, pulling her close by her legs and tickling the back of her thighs. Zelda laughed and kicked. "You cheeky rogue! How dare you interrupt a woman in the privacy of a bath!"

Link laughed in response and kissed her wet neck, licking the warm skin at her collar. "I suppose you were hoping to be clean after this," he growled, biting her neck savagely.

"How much longer are you planning to lie?" Ruto studied Zelda, who stared into her cup miserably. "Zelda?"

The Hylian looked up and studied Ruto. "Honestly?"

"Well, obviously." Ruto took a sip of her drink, narrowing her eyes.

"As long as I can," Zelda replied. "I love him, Ruto. And no amount of… no noble marriage that I could have could change that."

Ruto nodded and sighed. "How many months until the wedding?"

"Five."

Ruto looked up. "Does Link know?"

Zelda lowered her cup into its saucer harder than she expected. "Of course he knows. I told him so that he would understand why… why I will have to end it." She felt a lump bob in her throat at the thought.

Ruto reached across the small corner of the table and took Zelda's hand, holding it and giving it a squeeze. "He'll understand. No matter how much it hurts."

Link lit his pipe and paced his house again. He hadn't meant to snap at her. His heart was worn out from this constant push and pull, and the endless waiting. Link had never done well at waiting. He had to be doing something at almost all times. Zelda didn't know why he took up smoking, but it was because the motions of filling and lighting a pipe gave him something to do while he waited for her. Waited for her to finish her breakfast, to finish in the bath, to finish crying about her undesired husband-to-be.

And now he had to wait for her letter, wait for her return. He paced around the house twice. The letter would take a few days to come through. He would find something to do until then.

Zelda smiled kindly at Bertrand, and he noticed with a sinking heart how she had calmed. She chatted politely with him about minor concerns over the country. "Any trouble from the reports today?" she asked softly.

"No, no, the… reports were surprisingly good, today."

Zelda raised her eyebrows, surprised. "Oh? That's… a relief." They sat awkwardly for a few minutes, before separately resuming their dinners.

Bertrand had paced around the house, wondering when Zelda would return. He should have given her a time limit, so that he would know when she was destined to return. A few days? Would that have been long enough? He was surprised at her restraint, when she was back the next day before dinner. And horrified at how content she became. He would never be able to match the man that inspired that reaction in her.

She climbed into bed with him, unrequested, and curled against his back, kissing his neck and shoulder. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear.

Bertrand cleared his throat. "Just trying to make you happy," he replied in a choked tone. Zelda kissed him again, reaching up and curling her fingers into his hair. A part of her didn't want to do this; how foolish could it be? She didn't love him, and wouldn't something like this only hurt him more?

"Let me make you happy," she replied, wrapping her arms around him.

Bertrand sighed. "The only way you could do that is to stop seeing him."

Zelda pulled back and rolled over onto her back, closing her eyes and exhaling deeply. She did not have the courage to tell him that would never happen. They lay there in silence, estranged husband and wife. Bertrand turned to her and reached out, putting his hand on her breast and squeezing. Zelda shivered. Bertrand pulled her close and climbed overtop of her, kissing her mouth. She tasted and felt the same as she did on their wedding night, before he knew this horrible secret. Zelda made a soft noise and put her hands up in his hair.

They made love, but it felt false to her. Bertrand rested his cheek on her chest, listening to her heart. She ran her fingers through his hair and stared up at the ceiling, blinking away a few tears. She'd cried so much lately, it felt like she was either crying or fighting lately. There were more bags under her eyes, and Link's love bruises took longer to heal. She ate little. Zelda kissed the top of Bertrand's head, and laid awake until dawn, her husband snoring on her chest.


	9. Chapter 9

Link made sure he could leave his cooking dinner alone for a minute before he ran to the door, opening it. "Hello again," he said with a smile, stepping back and letting Zelda in. She smiled and kissed his cheek, but there was something a bit reluctant about her actions. Link had to go back to his stove, though, and he pushed his meal around with a wooden utensil. "Sit down," he offered, nodding and pointing to the table.

Zelda settled with her hands on her lap, Link portioning his dinner onto a plate. "Are you hungry?" She shook her head no, and again, Link noticed how quiet she was being, how reserved. He picked up the plate with his food and settled down at the table across from her, picking up bits of the potato and rabbit with his fingers. "Is everythin' alright? You're being silent."

Zelda took a deep breath, and in the harsh glare of the late day sun, Link noticed that her eyes looked red and puffy, as if she'd been crying. "What's wrong?" he asked again, softer, wiping his fingers clean on a napkin.

Zelda lifted her hands above the table, splaying her fingers out over the wood. Link stared at her hands; on her thumbs were engagement rings. As she broke into fresh shuddering sobs, Link put his plate of food to the side. "Oh." He reached across and took her hands, holding them tight in his own. "Zelda…"

She took a deep breath to control her sobs, closing her eyes and finding a calming center. "We knew this was going to happen," she managed to reply.

Link nodded his head. "So…"

Zelda shook her head, feeling sobs threatening at her throat. "I… I'd rather it was you, Link, you've no idea."

Link swallowed against the tightening in his throat. He had an idea, of how it should be him standing with her at that altar. Though their… relationship of sorts, and feelings for each other had only been out in the open for a short time, he knew that they were to be together, and had felt this way since they came back from that epic battle against Ganondorf. Link cleared his throat and dipped his head downward. "Well, I suppose this is it for you and I." He gripped his napkin with one hand, so tightly that his knuckles were white and the material creaked in his fingers.

Zelda buried her face in her hands, finally able to control her tears. "I wanted to tell you myself," she groaned.

"Thank you," was Link's strained reply. She put her hands back, and they held hands on the table for a while, staring at them. Link clenched his jaw so tight his mouth felt sore, and he gently ran his thumb over her knuckles.

Zelda watched the contact for a few breathless seconds, her lips parted. And then she lunged over the table, grabbing Link by the collar of his shirt and kissing him hard, the tears flowing again. He latched onto her with his hands on her waist, pushing her down onto the table and uncaringly knocking the plate of food onto the floor where it shattered and left a mess. Zelda groaned and wrenched at Link's shirt, pulling it up and raking her nails over his hard stomach. He growled and bit her ear sharply, pushing up her skirt and ripping down her drawers, breaking their kiss to fumble with his breeches. She sat up to help him unlace them, pulling out his shaft and stroking it. Link growled again, louder this time, and shoved her back down on the table, plunging into her. Zelda yelped at first, flinching, her hands up the back of his shirt and her nails digging into his shoulders. Link bit her neck hard, possessively, grunting as he thrust harder, pushing against the wood of the table with his toes. Zelda lifted her hips and moaned as he sank deeper in, and Link ripped at the collar of her dress to bite at the curve of her shoulder.

"Harder," she begged, Link thrusting until her head was nearly off the edge of the table. "Harder!" Zelda cried, slapping Link across the face. He stared in shock before slapping her back and sinking his teeth into her chest until he drew blood.

Zelda screamed, and Link swore in a shout, slumping up and gripping her tight against his chest as he came. They laid there in silence, Zelda's injury gently throbbing as blood welled up in small beads. Link rested his cheek on her chest, panting softly. His back hurt in thin ribbons of heat where Zelda had clawed him like a cat. They held onto each other tightly, curled there on the table, until Link's leg started to cramp.

He disentangled himself from Zelda's arms and legs, helping her up and slinking to the bedroom. They stretched out on top of the covers, wrapping their arms and legs around each other once more. Link's heartbeat slowed down as he rested, Zelda's nose lightly touching his. She looked at him and laughed bitterly, stroking his cheek.

After she left in the morning, Link went rummaging through his weapons closet, pulling the arrows from their quiver and then reaching into the bottom for the tiny wooden box. He opened it and stared at the rings, two polished things of rose gold with very elegant (at least he thought so) curling patterns around the outside. Link bit his lip and shut the box up tight, squeezing it in one hand. He would go out today.

Link rode to the edge of Lake Hylia, climbing off Epona and trudging purposefully through the slippery sand until he got to the water. He kept going, walking in up to his knees before he hurled the tiny box as far as he could throw. He watched it land with a distant splash, and then he screamed, falling to his knees and gripping his hair with his hands and pulling. He screamed until his throat was sore, and very nearly ripped some of his hair out. When he could no longer express his aching heart without his voice breaking, he climbed back out of the water and back up onto his horse, letting her lead them home at her own pace. If Ganondorf himself appeared on his doorstep, Link would gladly let the man take his own head off, if only so he would quit feeling the heavy burden of his foolish heart weighing him down.


	10. Chapter 10

When Link did finally return to his home, a few months or so after Zelda's most recent visit and departure, he was shocked to find that yet again, a woman was waiting for him in his house. But it wasn't Zelda; it was Ruto. She sat at his kitchen table with two guards, and while Link was still trying to remember if he locked the door, she thumped a warped, swollen, and barnacle-crusted wooden box onto the table. "This was found a few miles off the coast of Lake Hylia last week." She fixed him with a steady gaze. "What do you make of it, Link?"

Link sat down slowly at the table, pulling the box over with his fingertips and opening it. The rings sat mired in sticky mud, their carefully engraved curls coated and almost completely hidden. He took out his handkerchief and cleaned them carefully with the edge of his nail, shaking his head. "They're still in excellent condition," he muttered.

Ruto licked her lips. "I take it you know what those are and who they belonged to, then?"

Link looked at her, raising an eyebrow before settling back. He was not in the mood for Ruto's games. "How'd you get into my house, and how'd you figure out those are mine?"

"A key, and honestly, carving a Triforce on the inside of the lid, with your initials in the spots for Courage and Wisdom, isn't very subtle." Ruto fixed him with a sad gaze. "Link, did she know that you were thinking of proposing?"

Link raised his eyebrows. "I wouldn't say proposing, so much as I wanted her to have a physical symbol of… what we have—had. How I feel about her an' such." He frowned. "So why'd you have to bring these to me specifically? I'm sure you find dozens of—maybe even hundreds of lost engagement rings. Why couldn't you just leave them be?"

Ruto rubbed her palms together. "I… I know how you and Zelda have been, for months now. And that her engagement and marriage could not have been easy on either of you; she wasn't always lying when she told her father she was spending the night at my palace. Of course, we only talked about the wedding in negative tones…" Ruto looked away, sighing. "You should go see her at the castle. She was always coming to see you, and you two are so in love. If she cannot come to you, why do you not go to her?"

Link shook his head. "With the security and the guards, it made more sense for her to come here; a strange man in the queen's quarters would've caused a scandal."

"As if her not being at my palace, but in the arms of another man, wouldn't have?" Ruto arched one eyebrow. "I say this on behalf of what I know about your relationship: go to her. Give her the rings, and tell her you will love her no matter what comes between you two, and that you let her go to have a happy life. If that is how you feel."

Link slammed a fist into the table, glaring at Ruto. She jumped, as did her guards, on edge. "I have TRIED! To let her go! She has tried to stay away! But I can hardly breathe without her! Every day without her, knowing that she is holed up in a castle and a marriage with some… some noble bastard who doesn't know the first THING about her is KILLING. ME." Link's breath heaved, and he gritted his teeth, glowering at the Zora queen. "And before you suggest we run off into the sunset together to another country to scratch a meager existence from the land, she won't do it because she is bound to this country by her birth right." He looked away, and his left hand twitched. "Excuse me," he growled, not waiting for Ruto's permission, and going to his bedroom to prepare his pipe.

Ruto followed him, folding her arms together and leaning against the doorway to his bedroom. "Link." He half-turned toward her, lighting a match with his thumbnail and lighting the tobacco. "Zelda's with child."

"I'm late," she whispered in a panicked tone. Link had been woken up by her frantic knocking, and the moon was high in the sky.

He stared at Zelda, uncomprehending for a few minutes, replying stupidly, "Well yeah, I was sleeping, but my door's always open to y—

"No," she corrected him sharply. "My cycles, they're…"

Link chewed his lower lip, letting it dawn on him. He stepped back and let her in, shutting the door tight. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Zelda was pale and trembling, and she started to pace around the house. "It's been too long, the moon's starting a new phase, I'm behind by a few days. Oh Goddesses, what if I'm pregnant, what will I do, I can't just hide this until the wedding, we have seven months and I'll be showing—

Link grabbed Zelda by the shoulders and pulled her close, kissing her forehead. In a way, he was excited at the possibility. Something physical, something to tie them together. Even if it meant, unfortunately, that Zelda would be disgraced from the crown, and he would be wanted for taking her chastity. He would take her away from Hyrule, and they would live together off the land. The child would have her hair and his eyes, a boy, and Link would show him how to hunt and farm—

"If you're pregnant, I will take you in. We can live together, Zelda, and raise our child."

She looked at him, uncomprehending. "Our… Link, no. They'll kill you! For… for taking my virtue, they'll hunt you down and behead you!" She pulled away and paced again, and her erratic worries irritated Link deep down inside.

"We could leave Hyrule!" he called after her.

Zelda shook her head. "Don't be stupid. I can't leave Hyrule."

Link growled in frustration and folded his arms, flopping down heavily into a chair at the kitchen table. Zelda continued to pace, muttering to herself. "… but it'll be expected if it's the king's child, as it's fairly common for the bride and groom to be acquainted well before the actual marriage night…."

Link looked up at her sharply, narrowing his eyes. "Zelda, you're not honestly thinking—

"Yes, yes," she whispered, taking a seat at the table. "I'll just… I'll couple with Bertrand, and then it will be as if it's his child and not…" She looked up at Link with a lost, child-like expression. "Can we make some tea?"

He sighed heavily and shook his head, standing. "Sure."

A week or so after this exchange, Zelda came back. Link let her in like usual, going to start the kettle. "It was a… a false alarm," she said, swallowing. "My cycles have come, and… it was a false alarm." Link couldn't tell her that he'd been… disappointed. So instead, they made tea, and curled up together on the sprawling couch under a warm blanket, sipping their drinks and speaking very little.


	11. Chapter 11

Zelda sat in her own private chambers on her bed, staring into nothing. She had one hand to her stomach, which had barely changed beyond getting a might thicker. Pregnant.

Now that she actually was, she was scared. In the past, with all their little scares, she'd been able to blow it off easily afterward. She would fall pregnant when she was good and ready. Well, she wasn't ready, and it happened anyway. At least now she was married, and the child would grow up healthy and a part of the royal kingdom. And she could claim it was Bertrand's, and Link's life would be spared. It had been another scare at first, until her cycles had never made their return, and she vomited now and again throughout the day. Bertrand had heard the doctor's proclamation and hadn't been as excited as she thought he'd be. He smiled and hugged her, but there was worry in his eyes. He didn't think the baby was his.

Zelda looked to the double doors that led to the balcony from her rooms, feeling a chill when she saw a figure approach. Link tested the handles of the doors; they were unlocked. He gently pushed them open and peeked in, stopping when he saw Zelda. They looked at each other for a few minutes, until Link slipped in and shut the doors gently behind him. She shook her head and looked away. "You… probably shouldn't be here," Zelda mumbled.

Link walked over and sat down next to her. "I heard about your condition."

Zelda stared at her hands. "Right…"

Link sighed and stretched out, rubbing his hands together. He could feel the little wooden box in one pocket, weighing him down. "Is it mine?"

"It's Bertrand's."

Link looked at her in a cold shock, and Zelda laughed once with strain, sucking in a deep breath and balling her hands into fists, looking at him. "I… that's what I've been telling everyone, but, I think it's yours. I don't know but I… I think it's yours." She reached out and put her hand in Link's, squeezing it.

He cleared his throat and stood up, pulling out the little wooden box. "Zelda. I came here to give you this." He put it in her hands. "I wanted you to know that… no matter what happens between us, I'll always… love you. But I have to let you go."

They stared at each other, Zelda shrinking into herself. "Oh." She held the little box in her hands, and slowly opened it. "Oh…" Zelda stared at the rings, sniffling and putting her hand to her face. "Oh..."

Link tucked some of her hair behind one ear and kissed her forehead. "I won't come back," he whispered hoarsely, "and don't come looking for me, because I won't be there."

"Link, no, please—" Her voice broke and she reached for him. Link took her hands and kissed the knuckles and fingers.

"My princess, we cannot keep this foolish run around. It's wrong. You have a marriage to uphold, and I'm going to do my part by… going away for a while."

"No! Please! No!"

He hugged her tight, kissing her cheek. "I swear it, Zelda. Do not come looking for me." Link pulled away, though it was hard. She shuddered and forced herself to stay seated, gripping the wooden box tightly in her hands as Link walked back out to the balcony, shutting the doors behind him.

Zelda stared again at the rings and let herself cry, shuddering. She held her breath, trying to stifle her tears, but it wasn't helping in the least. She snapped the box shut and got up, stomping to her dresser across the room and shoving it into the top drawer, in the very back. She stood there, breathing harshly through her teeth and trying to keep control.

"Is it mine?" Bertrand sat down with Zelda at the foot of their marriage bed, his eyes serious and staring at her.

Zelda looked at him. "I… yes, I believe so." She stared down at her hands.

Bertrand sighed heavily, holding her hands in his and staring at their wedding rings. "You believe so."

She shifted uncomfortably. "We'd never been successful before…" Successful? Was that the right word? "I mean that… I've never fallen pregnant by him in the past, so… I doubt it's his."

Bertrand nodded and cupped her face in his hands, kissing her lightly on the mouth. "I love you," he whispered quietly.

Zelda nodded. "I… know." They sat in silence, and Bertrand finally got up and moved away.

Link tucked up behind her, kissing the back of her neck and holding her around the waist. "Y'know…"

"Hm?" she raised her eyebrows, and looked back at him over her shoulder. "What is it?"

Link kissed her jawline. "What if… something happens?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if you fall pregnant by me? What will we do?"

Zelda chewed on one nail. "I don't know… I… I'd probably try to purge it."

Link tensed. "Don't do that. Come on. Look. I'm telling you," he started, as he sat up, "that if something happens, I'm here for you, one hundred percent, and we'll go through it together."

She rolled over and looked at him. "You're not going to ask me to run away with you again, are you?"

Link shook his head. "No, no. I just want you to know that… if something happens, no matter what it is, I'll be there for you."

Zelda smiled warmly and kissed him, her hands on his cheeks. "I know," she murmured against his mouth, holding him close.

Link wrapped his arms around her again, holding her to his chest. "What would you name your child, if it was a boy?"

She shrugged, toying with his hair. "Probably a traditional Royal Family name. It's more complicated than just liking something; past kings and queens have followed a strict pattern. That, and Bertrand might have an idea of his own."

"What if it was a girl?"

Zelda stroked the skin around Link's eyes, her fingers lightly resting at his temples. "I'd name her Ella. It was my great-grandmother."

"That's a lovely name," he murmured.

"Yes, I've always thought so."

She found herself staring again at the dresser. Zelda couldn't hold back any longer; and she stood up, pulling open the top drawer and ripping open the box once more. She put it on top of the dresser, staring with round eyes before she pulled off her thumb rings, putting the ones Link had left on in their place. They fit near perfectly. She studied them, turning her hands over and over as she studied the rings. At that moment, Zelda knew exactly what she was going to do with the rings. She took them back off and put them back, putting on the official rings.


	12. Chapter 12

Zelda shook her head and slowly opened her eyes. The moon was shining in through the double doors, lighting the room. She could faintly hear Ella giggling in her crib, and a soft, barely audible voice talking to her. Since the baby was born, Zelda'd taken to sleeping in her future room, to nurse her. Bertrand had reluctantly begun to patch up his trust of the queen, and Zelda had, with great difficulty, hung onto her promise to not seek after Link.

Zelda shuffled and sat up, smoothing her hair back out of her face with her fingers, and she studied the hunched down figure that was next to the crib. Not Bertrand, he rarely ever played with his daughter. Zelda didn't know if it was because it was a girl and not a boy, or if it was because the girl had curly strawberry blond hair and solemn blue eyes. She slipped out of the bed and padded over to the crib, crouching down next to Link. His beard had gotten longer, and he looked tired. "She's pretty," he muttered.

Zelda lowered her gaze. "Thank you."

Ella giggled and smiled at Link, grabbing his one finger with her chubby fist. He sucked in a deep breath and smiled brightly; it lit up his whole face and brought tears to his eyes. "Hello, pretty girl…" he crooned in a low voice.

Zelda scooted back a few feet and stood. Her lower back ached, and Ella would need a feeding soon. "You can pick her up," she said softly.

Link scooped her up with both hands and straightened, holding her and rocking her gently. Ella stared up at him with her huge eyes. He paced in the room, talking softly and gently tickling under her chin. Zelda sat back down on the bed and looked away. It was touching to see him so affectionate. "Beautiful," he muttered, kissing Ella's forehead. Ella giggled and squealed in excitement. Zelda rubbed her mouth with one hand. She'd always known, from the minute Ella was born and had no reaction for Bertrand, that she was not his child.

"Where've you been?" Zelda asked softly. Link turned back towards her, rocking Ella, who'd fallen quite asleep.

"All over. The ocean… other countries." He gently set Ella back down in her crib and covered her with a blanket, sitting next to Zelda on the bed and looking at her. "How've you been?"

Zelda smirked bitterly. "I hate my life. I hate… my marriage. I … like my husband, I love my daughter, but the rest… nothing. It doesn't mean much to me anymore."

Link didn't have to ask her why. Instead, he looked down at his hands. They sat in an uncomfortable, stifled silence for a few minutes, and Zelda sat there, desperately wishing that he would push her down and handle her how he used to, kissing her and biting. "I should go," he replied with a sigh, getting up off the bed.

Zelda watched him, tears in her eyes. "Link… come back soon. I think she'd like to see more of you."

He stopped and turned back to look at her. "I'll try."

She thanked him quietly, watching as he left through the balcony. Zelda took a deep breath to control herself; she hadn't felt this upset in a while, but really she hadn't felt anything in months. Even if her heart was breaking all over again, she was happy to feel it.

-

It was years later. Ella was a young woman. As Zelda watched her grow, she could see how much her daughter was nothing like Bertrand. She was an excellent shot with a bow, a master with a sword, and her interest strayed towards hunting and fishing as opposed to embroidery and waltzes. And said husband had never really latched on to his alleged daughter. Zelda never asked her daughter if she had ever seen a figure sneak into her room at night, and Ella never brought it up. As her time for proper courting and engagement grew near, Zelda took more and more time staring at the hidden rings, that she'd moved to her bedside dresser in the room she now shared with Bertrand.

"Mother?"

Zelda looked up, holding the box in her hands. Ella hesitated near the doorway, looking at her uncertainly.

"Come in, sweetheart." Zelda moved over on the bed, and Ella walked in, sitting next to her mother. She eyed the wooden box curiously.

"What's in there?"

Zelda opened it and showed Ella the carefully-polished rings that still gleamed like new inside of the box. "These are… a family heirloom. When you marry, I want these to be your wedding rings."

Ella took one ring out, looking it over. "They're nice… why don't you wear them?"

Zelda cleared her throat, feeling uncomfortable. "Because they're for you." She smiled, glad of that save. The last thing Ella needed to know was the truth about her father.

Ella nodded and put the ring on her thumb, flexing. It was a little tight, but she smiled. "Thank you, mother."

Zelda hugged Ella and kissed her forehead. "Go get ready for dinner, dear."

-

He was there.

Link watched Ella grow up outside, lurking in the woods near her play area. He watched her aim grow sharper, her arm stronger. It was hard to not help her, to not be by her side and show her how to hold the bow properly. At least Zelda had indulged her daughter's peculiar interests, enlisting the second best teachers in the country. She could not hire the first; Bertrand would not have allowed it.

-

Ella smiled, sitting with her new husband and holding his hands, giggling. Zelda and Bertrand sat on either side of the married couple, picking at their food.

"Come, dance with me," Ella's husband urged, standing up and taking her hand. She laughed and ran with him to the hall floor.

Zelda watched them dancing, feeling tears in her eyes. "I'm going for air," she sighed, straightening and going to the balcony. She folded her arms and stared out at the snowy landscape, chewing her lower lip. At least Ella was happy, and found someone she actually wanted to be with.

"Don't look so sad," murmured a low voice. Link sat on the balcony. Zelda closed her eyes and sighed, shaking her head.

"You're still haunting me," Zelda replied, shaking her head.

Link snorted. "I'm the one visiting you. I just can't stay away." He climbed down off the balcony and walked over to her, touching her cheek.

Zelda turned her head away sharply. "Don't, please." All the old memories, the fire, the pleasure, came rolling back.

"I want to dance with the bride, one more time," he said with a smile. Zelda shook her head, smiling, and Link brushed past her. She turned and watched as he approached Ella. She smiled uncertainly, and nodded, but there was something in her face. Ella knew him. Maybe she didn't consciously recognize him, but she knew.

Zelda glanced over to Bertrand. He didn't look happy, but the good man that he was—he remained seated, clutching his wine goblet tightly with one hand. Ella danced with Link with a smile, shy but polite. When the dance ended, Link kissed her hand and headed back out to the balcony. "She's a beautiful girl."

Zelda nodded her agreement. "She's a lot like her father."

Link slowed down. "Does she know?"

"I haven't told her."

"Mm." He looked back at Ella, who had rejoined her husband in a dance. "Well. Maybe I'll come by again, some time."

He climbed over the balcony railing and gripped onto the rough surface, climbing down. Zelda watched his escape, watched as he ran off on his horse.

"Mother?"

Zelda turned and smiled at her daughter. "What is it?"

"Who was that man?"

"That… was an old friend of mine."

Ella tilted her head slightly and smiled curiously. "Do I… know him?"

"You met him when you were very young." Zelda put a hand on Ella's shoulder and squeezed, smiling, before looking down at her thumbs. She smiled at the matching rings. "Ella… are you happy?"

Ella laughed in confusion. "W… well yes, mother. Sebastien is very kind to me, and… he's warm, and I love him, mother. Isn't that what matters?"

Zelda nodded, tears in her eyes. "Yes darling. That's the most important thing." She kissed her daughter's forehead and patted her shoulder. "Go back to Sebastien."

Ella turned to do so, and Zelda stared back out towards the snowy landscape, watching a dark figure on horseback get further and further away.


	13. Chapter 13

Ella cleared her throat and dismounted her horse, rubbing her hands together. She stared at the cramped little cottage, the roof in shambles and the paint peeling. The guards hesitated behind her. "Stay on your horses," she commanded with one hand, taking a few slow steps towards the place. The fever her mother had succumbed to in the lateness of her live _had_, after all, left her delirious and nonsensical. But the will she'd written had seemed clear and concise. Ella had no choice but to follow it, and see if it was true, what her mother had not revealed until both her and Ella's father- or not- had died.

The reader of the will had picked it up in his trembling, old hands and adjusted his glasses. Ella wore all black, and she twisted her wedding rings as she sobbed softly against her husband's shoulder. "To whom it may concern," he'd started.

_If it is true, that the great queen Zelda has fallen, we desire to wish these items bequeathed unto those: our entire estate is to go to our beloved daughter, Ella, for her and her kin. In accepting this estate, there are certain conditions that must be met before and after I am in the ground._

_Before I am to rejoin the soil of this great country, I wish to be buried with the rose gold rings my daughter wears. She may take mine, as they are now hers as part of her estate._

Ella had refused at first, gaping and staring, but her husband hugged her and assured her that he would happily buy her new rings, and Zelda's could become the new heirloom. She reluctantly peeled them from her fingers and handed them to her husband for safekeeping in his purse.

_After I have been safely buried, I wish my daughter to go to a small cottage to the south of the castle, and ask the man inside, if he still lives, if he forgives your mother what she had done in her life. This man is your true father, Ella._

Ella stopped cold and snorted. "Impossible. Mother and Father… she would have been beheaded if I was anyone else's child!" Her heart thumped strangely in her chest, and Ella knew that it was the truth. Though Bertrand had been the one to raise her, she had felt only connected to him at a distance, like a dignitary. And that would explain the strange man who had insisted on dancing with her at the wedding. Zelda had never offered a good explanation for who he was.

_Please forgive me for never telling you, my darling child. _

The three stared at each other in a dead silence. Ella cleared her throat, and the reader of the will sighed heavily. "Your mother is intelligent; she cannot be beheaded now that she is dead. It is a disgrace to her memory to violate the … her in such a way."

Ella shook her head. "What if he is not my father? Or dead?"

"Then don't worry about it," the reader suggested kindly.

Ella hesitated, taking her first few steps towards the cottage. Beyond the dark windows, she faintly saw movement. Was someone alive? Or her imagination? She took another step forward and gasped in shock as the door was thrown silently, but quickly, open. The man that barricaded it had thick, graying hair past his shoulders, and a long beard. He eyed Ella with suspicious blue eyes, and his clothes were worn and moth-bitten. They stood still for several minutes, until the old man gasped, and his jaw went slack. "Zelda?"

Ella felt tears rolling down her cheeks. "N… no… forgive me, kind sir. I am… Queen Ella. I have come on behalf of the late maj-"

"Your mother," he replied in a cool tone, stepping forward and eyeing the guards. He snorted in derision, and walked forward casually. "You look exactly like her." He took her by the chin and looked into her face, turning it this way and that. Ella could see a flicker of her own face around his nose, something about the curve of it or its bluntness.

"Sir, forgive me, but I have come on behalf of my late mother to ask you… if you forgive her for what she had done."

Link stepped back and sighed heavily. "Come in," he finally spoke, gesturing to the door and going in. Ella hesitated, and looked at the guards. "If I was going to kill you, I could've by now twice over," Link called from inside the house. Ella swallowed and headed in.

The house was mostly dust, but Link was heating a pot of hot water and preparing an ancient and rusty tea ball, getting out two cups that were faded and well-used. "Sit down," he offered. Ella did so, settling at the table and folding her hands primly together. Link let the tea steep- "How do you like your tea?"

"Bitter."

"That's different."

He poured them cups and set down across from her at the table. "Your mother loved her tea sweet, so sweet it could make ye sick."

Ella studied the chipped cup, tracing a faint crack with one nail. "Sir… we buried my mother a few days hence."

He swore and spat. "She outlived me! Because I've gotten useless and fat…" Link wasn't fat at all; he was, in fact, scrawny. But Ella shook her head instead of pointing it out.

"Sir, she made an unusual request that I come here and ask you if you forgive her everything. What did she do that needed forgiveness?"

Link swirled his tea and sighed heavily. "She… betrayed her heart for her country, in so many words." He took a sip.

"So… is it true that you are my father, and not the late King Bertrand?"

Link nodded. "I believe so."

"My mother… chose the king? Why?"

Link cleared his throat. "She loved me with her heart. But we were not to be."

Ella sipped her own tea, silent, trying to take it in. She was not expecting this; she was anticipating a fling, a love-making borne only from a fight with her king husband. "You had an affair?"

Link nodded. "I loved her first, and deeply. Far more deeply than Bertrand ever could." He drained the last of his tea in one fast swig.

Ella bit her lower lip and looked at her hands. "She had me bury her with… different rings than the ones she had always worn. I was wearing them. They were rose gold, and swirled with filigree. Were… those…?"

Link sighed. "We were never formally married, never even engaged. I hid them until a friend knocked sense into me to give them to the rightful owner."

Ella swallowed against the lump in her throat.

Link looked up at her again, and there were tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. "Where was she buried?"

"Her grave is in the mausoleum in the royal graveyard."

Link nodded; he would visit it, even if it was the last thing he did. He took a deep shuddering breath and let his tears fall, gripping his arms tightly with his fingers. "Yes, Ella. I forgive her everything."

The next time Ella visited her mother's grave, there were little signs that someone else had been there; the grass was tended, and small flowers grew from the floor, bright yellow and smaller than her big toe. She put her left hand on the grave and closed her eyes. "I forgive you mother," she whispered. She stood there a moment longer, swearing that she could feel someone watching her, or smell a whiff of pipe smoke. But no matter how quickly she turned around, there was no one to see. She left in a rush, climbing back up on her horse and riding off.

Link watched her go, perched in a tree that arched over the graveyard. He took a deep draw off his pipe and smiled sadly. "My queen, I'll love you always. I promise."


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: **You thought I was all done with this story. So did I! A quick little blurb from Ella's point of view, before she was married.

---

Springtime is my most favorite of all seasons. Everything is waking up and coming to life, little birds are learning to fly, there's always a new colt around the stables, and the new recruits begin their training. Our guard captain, Tirol, is a huge man with a ruddy face and a fierce disposition towards the trembling knights in their weak, shoddy training armor. They only get the quality sets once they have shown themselves worthy. It makes me grin to see his countenance so set with anger and disgust, when all my life I have known him as the sweetest man in the castle, who would tolerate carrying me on my shoulders for hours.

My mother tells me to blame him, in a joking way, as for my fervent appreciation of the finer points of battle, archery, and swordplay. It was her decision to indulge me and give me the finest training in Hyrule towards such endeavours, and she always had a moment to spare to watch me fire an arrow into a target or engage in a short battle against my teacher.

It also allowed me to wear breeches, a true luxury for noble women. Breeches were for women who worked, so they should have been looked at with disgust, but I hated dresses. Always floor length, even in summer, and heaped over an underdress, corset, drawers, nylons, ugh. When training, I still had to wear a corset, but it was designed to flex and bend, and for this purpose was very lightweight. I also got to wear a tunic, but it was long sleeve, which meant I still suffered.

"Too much skin exposed gives men the wrong idea," my mother scolded when I complained. "Not to mention you will lose your fair color to the heat of the sun. Do you want to be as tan as a commoner?" She was so dead-set against the idea of me in short sleeves that when she caught me in a green shirt (always green, my favorite color) with the sleeves hacked off and my coppery hair back in a braid, she almost fainted. I thought it was rather hypocritical of her, as she'd worn short sleeves for her very wedding!

Father didn't say much about my practice, and it bothered me sometimes. Especially when he would say, "you look just like your father," when watching me stomp around in my boots and breeches. I'd never seen him fight, and Mother even said that he was raised the son of an Earl, who did not have to go into battle. Perhaps it was because I was allowed to wear men's clothing?

Whatever the case, I used my practice as a way to express my frustrations. It was joked that there was a soldier's ghost haunting the castle, for I could be seen some nights fighting invisible enemies under the moon. During the day, even when I did not have practice, I would ride my horse out into the fields and fight trees.

One day, I headed out like usual. I decided to go a little farther south than I normally did. The sky was a bright blue with fluffy, full clouds, and the grass of the fields shifted constantly in the wind. I took my sword with me like usual. There were far older trees around here, who creaked gently in the wind overhead. I dismounted my horse and unsheathed my sword, looking around. I bowed to the largest tree before stepping back and taking the first stance, my legs apart and bent at the knee, the sword tip pointed at the ground, standing sideways towards the tree. I swung toward it, bringing my sword into a diagonal slice towards it, and managed to make one good notch. I spun, holding her (well of course my sword is a girl, her name is Evelynn), sideways and bringing it into the mighty trunk again. I swung far too hard this time though, and as I struggled to dislodge my sword from the tree, I heard a deep voice shout "HEY!".

I froze and looked in the direction of the voice. Glaring at me was an older man, around my mother's age. His hair was the same color as mine, with patches of grey at the temples. I whimpered and pouted, knowing I was to be in trouble for ruining this man's trees. He dismounted off his horse, an old-looking thing, and walked towards me in long strides. We were even dressed similar, and I almost laughed, but for his thunderous face. He looked me over, staring in my eyes. I was too terrified to chastise him for being so bold. Something changed in his face and he cleared his throat, stepping back.

"Sorry miss, I thought you were a poacher, tryin' to hack down this forest. It's protected, you know." I watched his callused hands as he reached forward and grabbed the blade itself, pulling it free with hardly a knick.

"I am sorry sir, I did not know that." I looked Evelynn over, she was in fine condition. Now that I knew I was not to get in any serious trouble with this stranger, I felt calmer. When I looked up at him, he was studying my sword. He held out one hand, palm up. I noticed on his thumbs he wore flat, plain wedding rings, hammered from rose gold.

He did not say anything, but I knew and gently laid Evelynn across his hands. He held her point up and studied the edge, swinging her through the air a few times. He looked again at me and grinned, perking one corner of his mouth in a similar way to my own. "Are you good?"

I lifted my chin. This commoner was teasing me! "I am trained by the best teachers in all of Hyrule, sir. I believe that I am, in fact, 'good'." He snorted. He snorted at me! As if laughing!

As I watched, he drew a sword from his own scabbard. It was much longer than mine, and looked old but well cared for. I did not think he could afford a sword, but I would rather win a battle with him before accusing him of anything. I stepped back and took the same stance as with the tree. He stood there, patient, letting the sword hang from one hand useless. "Are you sure that's your stance, sir?"

"I'm ready whenever you are, little princess," was his relaxed reply. Very well, then!

I started with the same swing as I had with the tree, and in one quick sudden movement, he knocked the sword back with a swipe of his blade. I stumbled back a step. His swing was a lot harder than my instructor's. I stepped forward again, facing him, pointing at the ground, on the ball of my forward foot. I jumped forward, bringing my sword up. Again, this stranger knocked my blade around in quick little parries, moving backwards in a circle. I slowed down and gasped for breath, sweat running down my back already. "See, he's being too gentle with you," replied the old man.

I frowned. "My teacher is the best in Hyrule!"

"No, he's the second best. I'd know." Something had hardened in his face. "Come at me again." He stepped back a few paces, and this time I came at him a different way, crouched on my knees, legs apart, sword tip pointed at him and held with my palm up. This time, he not only knocked Evelynn away, but he smacked my arm with the flat of his blade.

"He's letting you stay too open. Tighten up your stance. Know to feel in yourself where your open spots are."

I shook my head, staring at him. "I only have two eyes!"

"Exactly. You have to find it with your nerves!" The old man jabbed my side with one finger. "You felt that, yeah?"

"Yes," I replied, gritting my teeth.

"So feel that all the time. Focus on it, and know to feel it through your whole body. Try and swing at me." He gave me his blade to hold, putting on a pair of heavy gauntlets that protected his palms and the backs of his hands. I waited until he'd secured the gloves, and I tried a very regular attack, swinging in an arc. He grabbed the blade with one hand and shoved it back. I stumbled and gaped at him. "See? I anticipated that. Learn to predict when they are going to attack. Everyone has a tell. You twitch one hand."

I put the offending hand behind my back, blushing.

"Find someone's tell, and use it to your advantage to predict their movements."

He went and retrieved Evelynn for me, holding her out. I took her back and handed him his sword, carefully flipping it around so that he would get the pommel.

The old man flipped his sword around casually. I was no longer so scared of him, but curious. He knew plenty about swordwork, and I wondered how he hadn't been able to make money off it. Was he a disgraced knight?

"Find my tell," he said suddenly. I looked up. He again held the same casual pose, and quickly he ran toward me. I gasped and put up my sword as he came swinging, his face full of deadly intent. Why hadn't I just run away when I had the chance? I was going to be murdered by this commoner! The worst was that he gently bumped my sword, and when I lowered my arms, he was grinning. "Come on now, little princess, I'm not gonna hurt you." I nodded, embarrassed. He moved back a few feet and came toward me again.

I managed an actual defense this time; I parried his sword and deflected it to one side, but he was fast and strong, and soon I was pushed back and ended up falling. He helped me up with his left hand. "I got you," he said suddenly, his eyes wide. I blinked and looked around my body; there was a tiny, hot burn on my shoulder where his blade had gotten through the fabric and on my arm.

I pouted and put my hand to the injury as he put his sword away, muttering curses and reaching in his horse's saddlebag, retrieving some bandages and a clear salve that I recognized from having many scrapes on my knees when I was a child. I visibly bristled, and he noticed. "I know, I know, but we can't have you getting sick."

He prepared a clean cloth with the salve and offered me his hand. "Squeeze this when it hurts." I grabbed his hand and did as told, hissing through my teeth and squeezing.

There was something comforting in it; it was the way my nurse had always tended to my wounds, the same squeezing of a hand or arm to fight off the pain. He wiped the blood away thoroughly, and wrapped a thin layer of clean bandages around my arm. I looked at him with a little frown. "Do I know you, sir?"

"Probably not," he replied casually. I looked away, and when he was done, he pulled my sleeve back down. "There, good as new."

I flexed my arm. The bandages were secure, but not so tight as to ruin my movement. "Thank you," I spoke softly, staring at the grass.

"It's my own fault, don't go gettin' me beheaded now." I laughed a bit and looked at him. He smiled at me with warmth, a few tears in his eyes.

"I won't sir, I promise! You've done me no harm!" I did not want him to panic that because of my failure in defense, he was to lose his life!

"Well, good enough. Take care, little princess." He clapped me on the uninjured shoulder, and turned to his horse.

I stopped him, calling out, "You nod your head!"

The old man turned and looked me over.

"That's your tell."

He nodded slowly at me now, climbing up on his horse and turning away, trotting off.


End file.
